7. Navigating With The TomTom Go 700

• Go 700 GPS (Vehicle,...
• • DealStopStores
  • $99.00

The Go 700 really shines when you take it out on the road and let it guide you to your chosen destination. I tried the GPS on a number of short and long trips. It provided accurate location information and turn commands were accurately given very close to the right spot on the road. The thing even worked inside tunnels, thanks to what TomTom calls "Assisted Satellite Navigation." And, I used the built-in satellite antenna during all of my tests. I didn't need an external antenna. I also did most of my trips on the built-in battery, using the 12 volt adapter only for very long trips.

I did everything I could to frustrate the Go 700 by going off-route frequently. I was such a route breaker that I expected the gentle, very easy to hear totally US of A female voice I selected to scream at me in serious anger, "What's the matter with you, you stupid jerk? I told you to turn left back there!" Instead the GPS quickly recalculated my route and Lori's voice ever so gently got me back on track. Yes, the voices have names and multiple voices are available for each of the Go 700's more than 30 languages. My wife's pretty nice, but maybe I'd be better off with Lori and her disembodied voice.

Lori and voices for more than 30 languages hang out in the "Select a Voice" section of the TomTom Go 700's "Preferences" menus.

The 3D map and the voice commands really work well together. The map changes on the screen as you move forward. The Go 700's antiglare display and excellent brightness made it very easy to see what was on the screen even in daylight. When I needed to hear a command again, I just touched the lower left hand corner of the screen. I even turned on the option that links sound volume with road speed. More speed, more road noise and more GPS volume. That is very neat.

It would be kind of dangerous for me to try to video a real trip to show you what it's like traveling with the Go 700. However, the device can show a demo of the selected route complete with full motion and voice commands. So, I video taped a portion of a demo. You can download and view the video by clicking on the image below.

Click on the image to download the video; size: 2.4 MB.

You may have noticed that Lori talked a lot about turning and reaching my destination right at the end of the trip. You may also have noticed that we went right past Malcolm Ave. on the map while we were supposedly traveling to Malcolm Ave. Find a map of the West Los Angeles area that shows the intersection of Westwood Blvd. and Massachusetts Ave. You'll see that as you go Southeast on Massachusetts it literally becomes Malcolm Ave. Putting it another way, the part of Malcolm Ave. we passed runs perpendicular to Massachusetts Ave. Turn left from that part of Malcolm onto Massachusetts and after a few feet you're suddenly driving on Malcolm. People coming over to the house for the first time inevitably get lost. If they had Lori riding with them as navigator, that wouldn't happen.